Brand concerns affect J&J Games decisions

Published on April 20, 1999.

A lack of agreement among its brands--rather than scandals surrounding the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics--was the principal reason that Johnson & Johnson broke off negotiations to become a $30 million official sponsor of the Games, said a spokesman for the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company. The spokesman, however, acknowledged the scandal surrounding the Games was "certainly in the backdrop.'' He said J&J hadn't signed a letter of intent and didn't back out of an existing agreement. He said the company will continue to donate products to athletes and may pursue advertising on Olympic TV broadcasts, as it has in the past. "Our support of the Olympics is essentially staying the way it has been for years,'' the J&J spokesman said. "We were looking to increase that level of support, and that's what didn't happen.''